The 2007 Global Neuroengineering (GNE 2007) conference will allow key members of the international neuroscience and technology community to come together to discuss recent advances, opportunities, and challenges in key thematic areas of modern brain research. In addition, GNE 2007 will provide a forum to explore the social, ethical, and societal implications of these advances, and to explore pathways that could facilitate and accelerate advances in fundamental neuroscience research, applied clinical medicine, and commercialization of resulting technologies. GNE 2007 will also serve as the inaugural event of the International Neuroscience Network, a project that aims at linking leading neuroscience institutes and centers around the world to help define a global agenda for brain research. One of the main goals of the INN project, sponsored by the recently created International Neuroscience Network Foundation (INNf), is fostering international collaborations that can address fundamental questions in basic and clinical neuroscience. The INNf also aims at helping the creation of world class neuroscience research centers and institutes in developing nations. As a way to demonstrate the commitment of the INNf to this cause, the GNE 2007 will be hosted by the newly created International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal (IINN), a new neuroscience research initiative put forward by a group of Brazilian neuroscientists who work in leading universities in the United States. Through a series of private donations and a partnership with the Brazilian government, the IINN has been created to serve as the "first node" of the International Neuroscience Network in Latin America. By holding the GNE 2007 in Natal, Brazil, the INNf will be able to invite students from all over Latin America to participate in a meeting that will bring together leading scientists working in many areas of modern neuroscience. Such an event, therefore, will allow students and faculty from Latin America and US based neuroscientists to interact and likely establish collaborations between leading US academic institutions and the best Latin American universities. The global explosion of neuroscience research and the resulting cutting edge technologies emerging from this multidisciplinary field have led to groundbreaking advancements in the fundamental understanding of normal brain function as well as to pathophysiological mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. These advances have the potential to impact millions of people worldwide by providing new treatments for serious illnesses such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, as well as other neural impairments induced by disease or injury. GNE 2007 will bring together leading neuroscientists from the US, Europe, and Japan, as well as students from all over Latin America, along with leading members of the private biomedical industry interested in contributing to the translational of new ideas and technologies to the clinical arena and set the stage for the establishment of a global brain research agenda and for the emergence of broad international collaborations that are likely to significantly impact the future of neuroscience. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]